Thursday, July 12, 2007

It's funny that the Giants actually believed that they were in the running for Ichiro, having already blown their wad on Barry Zito (6-9 record so far). Check out the reporter's dubious claim:

The Giants had been considered a logical suitor, given Ichiro's preference to stay on the West Coast, the large Asian American population in the Bay Area and the potential departure of Barry Bonds.

Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot about the long and storied history of the Giants tapping into Asian communities, with players like Hideo Nomo, Kazuhisa Ishii, Chan Ho Park (okay, you can take that one), Chin-Lung Hu, Chin-Hui Tsao, and Hong-Chih Kuo, not to mention an Asian Assistant General Manager, or being the first team to reach out to China to spread the gospel of baseball. Wait a second, that isn't the Giants--it's the Dodgers! My mistake.

(And yes, I know that Masanori Murakami was the first Japanese player ever in the major leagues, in 1964, with the San Francisco Giants. But I can't recall any other Asians on any recent Giants roster--unless you're counting Sun-Woo Kim, who hasn't appeared in a game for the Giants yet. Correct me if I'm missing someone.)

But wait, the comedy continues. Check out this quote buried in the Ichiro piece:

Ichiro hasn't hit more than 15 home runs in any of his six-plus major-league seasons (he has five so far this year). But he also hasn't hit lower than .303 -- he's at .359 this season -- and that's obviously more of a priority as Seattle's leadoff hitter.

Asked how many home runs he could hit if he concentrated on power, Ichiro said, "If I'm allowed to bat .220, I could probably hit 40 homers. But nobody wants that."

Hey, man, we've got a leadoff hitter who was hitting .220 not too long ago. Except, we didn't have the 40 HR part, either.

P.S. AC, you've gotta post your own stuff! If you leave it to me, I just get all riled up. I need another Red Bull.

11
comments:

Seriously, if this is the best the Giants can offer to its "large Asian American population," that is pretty sorry. Shinjo had one sad year with the Giants, batting .238 in 118 games, before getting shipped back to the Mets. Puh-leeze.